I hope there is no hazing involved. I am Ty. I have already hear welcomes from a few of you, for which I thank you all. But I just now got around to the official introductions. I'm a 33 year old part time freelance writer, (trying with all my might to become full time) living in Maryland. I have experience in straight up journalism, blogging (I am the author of two blogs at the moment), reviews, and human interest magazine features. I have to say writing the human interest pieces is what I enjoy most from the non-fiction angle of things. I am trying to expose myself to more magazines that would be an outlet for that kind of writing, especially as pertains to music and the arts. As for fiction, I have only made inroads into that in recent years. None of my fiction has been published, but I have completed the rough draft of what I hope will be my first novel. (First revisions begin in July.) I also write micro-short fiction, at least for now, as part of the exercises from a book I bought to keep myself fresh and on the ball when it comes to narrative and other such fiction things. I have been a writer in one form or another for most of my life, but have only tried to formalize the arrangement in the last three years or so. I only recently thought to join the various writing boards and forums online. I am joining several of them to find a good fit, so some of you will probably see me around other places, with a very similar introduction to this one. Basically, just want to meet other writers, give and share advice on the craft when I can. Hope that works out. See you around the forum! sincerely, Ty Unglebower
Hello Ty, Welcome to the Creative Writing Forums. No worries, hazing is absolutely prohibited. Please read How to Use the Writing Workshop before you try to post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here anyway. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Writing Workshop, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Writing Workshop, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. We also impose a two-week waiting period before you may post writing for critique, to give you time to become familiar with what is expected and how the site operates. The Writing Workshop forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Writing Workshop forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out the RPG forum for improvisational fiction. Also try our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Welcome, Ty! Sounds you have experience from which we all can benefit. I am looking forward to your contributions!
